This application relates generally to a single locking mechanism used in a manual seat adjuster that provides a stable seat mount due to the use of a truss structure extending between seat track assemblies.
Seat track arrangements for mounting seats within vehicles are generally well known. Most arrangements provide for a seat to be moved or adjusted in forward and rearward directions within a vehicle along inboard and outboard track assemblies. The inboard track assembly is spaced apart from the outboard track assembly and both track assemblies include a first track member that is mounted to the vehicle and a second track member that is supported for movement relative to the first track member. The seat is adjusted in forward and rearward directions by sliding the second track members relative to the first track members.
Known inboard and outboard track assemblies for manual seat adjusters each include a locking assembly. These locking assemblies are moved between a locked position where the locking assemblies maintain the second tracks in a selected position relative to the first tracks and an unlocked position where the second tracks move with respect to the first tracks to a place the seat in a desired position. A manual actuator such as a handle or towel bar is used to move the locking assemblies from the locked position to the unlocked position.
One disadvantage of having two locking assemblies, one mounted on the inboard track assembly and one mounted on the outboard track assembly, is that the locking assemblies are not synchronized, i.e., one locking assembly will lock into place before the other, which is undesirable. When not synchronized, one of the locking assemblies locks into place, the other locking assembly remains unlocked between two increments. There is free play between the locking assemblies and the tracks to allow the "unlocked" locking assembly to move in either a forward or rearward position until it also locks into place. This results in a loose fitting between the locking assemblies and the tracks which causes to seat to rock resulting in seat instability and noise, which is undesirable.
Additionally, using two locking assemblies takes up more packaging space underneath the seat and increases the number of parts for the seat adjuster, which increases cost and assembly time.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a manual seat adjuster that only has one locking mechanism mounted to one of the track assemblies yet provides a seat mount that is stable and quiet. It is also desirable to only use one locking assembly so that the seat adjuster is lighter, uses less components, is less expensive and increases available packaging space.